If Sonic the Hedgehog2006 was better: Shadow
by Elementaldragonoflight
Summary: Second chapter of my "If Sonic 06 was better" series, focusing on the second part of it, Shadow the Hedgehog
1. Chapter 1: White Acropolis

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this fanfic nor do I own Sonic the Hedgehog. All copyright claims of Sonic the Hedgehog and all its material rightfully belongs to Sega and Sonic Team. I am not making money off of this, it is a story written for enjoyment and fun for fans of the series._**

Sonic the Hedgehog

CHAPTER 2: SHADOW

**_Act 1: White Acropolis Zone: Part 2_**

"Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!" went the alarm of Robotnik's White Acropolis base.

As sirens wailed, robots went out to guard it as a figure dashed through the snow. They opened fire at it, missing it as they couldn't match the intruder's great speed. One by one, the robots exploded from a unseen attack. The intruder jumped over the wall. His identity was discovered from the light of the last robot's destruction on the other side of the wall. It was none other than** Shadow the Hedgehog**: The ultimate Life Form created by Robotnik's grandfather, Dr. Gerald Robotnik onboard the space Colony **ARK**. He hid from the searchlights of the base as a transmission came in from the wristwatch he wore. It was the commander of **G.U.N**: _**G**uardian **U**nits of **N**ation_.

"Transmission from HQ," he said, "There's an SOS coming from Robotnik's base. Our last communication with our **agent** was 26 hours ago. If the agent is in danger, we expect an immediate rescue, Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Understood," said Shadow, "Initiating the mission _now_!"

He dashed by the searchlights as he searched for a way in to rescue the agent.

Inside the base, robots covered the inside of the building, looking for another intruder.

"Find him!" yelled Robotnik over an intercom, "Find that thief!"

Unknown to him, the thief was hidden in the air ducts just above them with the stolen item in hand; A **scepter**.

"He just doesn't give up, does he?" The thief asked, hidden in the shadows. "With security this tight, he made me late to return. Guess I can't stay here for too long. G.U.N's probably worry about_ little old me_ and I ran out of rations."

The G.U.N agent with the stolen item flew through the air ducts hoping one would lead outside.

The agent found a way outside after traveling where the air current came from and kicked the vent blocking the way. The agent revealed herself as **Rouge the Bat**; The jewel thief who loves beautiful gems and does anything to collect them, as well as steal them, and an agent of G.U.N. As she held the mysterious scepter, she saw searchlights everywhere as well as laser fences.

"Looks like he doesn't want me to get out at all," she said.

Despite all the security, Rouge made her way through with her ability to fly, being a bat.

"Ha, ha!" she said, "Robotnik's no match for me!"

"Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!" the alarm continued to sound.

"The sooner I'm out, the better," said Rouge, "That alarm is getting annoying."

"Intruder entering South Gate!" said the alarm.

"Entering?" said Rouge, "Seems like G.U.N sent someone. Who could it be?"

She arrived at the South Gate where the other G.U.N agent was. She opened the door to let him in, surprised it was Shadow.

"Shadow?" she said, "Why you?"

"It's a request from the commander," he answered.

Rouge tagged along with him as they escaped.

"You've been here for a day," said Shadow, "Do you know an easy way out?"

"It's just near where you came in," she answered him, "A teleporter to Soleanna in the South side of the base. I couldn't make it myself with all the security around, but with you, it's no problem!"

Shadow jumped in the air as they ran, destroying the nearby search lights so they wouldn't be spot escaping. He easily broke through them with his Spin Dash, despite their strong structure. They made their way near the entrance of the south side eventually after destroying the lights.

"Don't you want to know what this is?" asked Rouge as she held the mysterious scepter.

"My assignment was to rescue you. Nothing more," he answered.

"Fine," she said with a sigh, "With you it's always business."

As they walked, the ground beneath them started to shake. A large gate close to them started to open as a light shined from within it. A large Dog-like beast emerged from it, roaring loudly and greatly. One of Robotnik's creations called the **Egg-Wolf**.

"Seems like they don't want us to leave," said Rouge.

"Let's just get this over with," said Shadow.

Rouge flew away as the Egg-Wolf lunged at them. Shadow jumped back, avoiding the attack as Rouge watched from a safe distance. Feeling lazy, Rouge just watched Shadow's battle, feeling like it wasn't hers to fight as she had to take care of the scepter she was told to get. She was quickly forced into the fight as the Egg-Wolf spotted her, lunging to attack. She quickly jumped to avoid it, angered at the beast for nearly hitting her.

"Stupid dog!" she yelled, "Shadow!"

Shadow ran up to the robot and slid under it, firing **Chaos Spear** at the underbelly of it. It ripped through the metal of it, damaging the inside of the Egg-Wolf. It went haywire as it attack randomly from the damage.

"Shadow, look out!" Rouge cried.

The Egg-Wolf started to chase after Shadow as he ran from it. He jumped back and landed on its back. He saw its joints connecting its head and destroyed it with Chaos Spear, causing its head to fall off and shut down the robot all together.

"What a pathetic guard dog," said Shadow, "Robotnik needs to work more if he wants to be like **Gerald**."

After disposing of the Egg-Wolf, Rouge and Shadow walked toward the door with their escape in it. Thinking there would be a trap inside, Shadow stood next to the door and opened it from there. The minute he opened it, gunfire rained out for a minute until it stopped. A robot stepped out to investigate only to be knocked back by Shadow kicking it. He burst into the room, destroying the remaining robots in a matter of seconds.

"Looks like you're still on the top of your game," said Rouge as she entered the room.

"Do you know how to work this teleporter?" Shadow asked.

"Of course," she answered, "The Chicken and Driller told me how after I..."Convinced" them to."

After setting the teleporter, Rouge and Shadow escaped from Robotnik's base, heading toward Soleanna to the other end.

"Nincombots!" Robotnik yelled at Scratch and Grounder, "Metal Morons! Idiots! Robotic rejects! You...You...You Nincombots!"

"You already said that," said Scratch.

"Then allow me to repeat myself yet again," said Robotnik, "You are Nincombots! You let them get away!"

"It wasn't our fault," said Grounder.

"Then why did you let her steal the **Scepter of Darkness** and show her how to work the teleporter?" asked Robotnik.

"Um....eh...." Scratch stuttered.

"It's that lipstick I see on your faces?" Robotnik asked, "She seduced you into doing it? How can a bat seduce unfeeling robots?!"

"Well, I'm based on a chicken, so since I'm already like an animal..." said Scratch before Robotnik drowned him out. "It doesn't matter now! All that matters is getting that scepter back! It's an important item for the Solaris project."

Robotnik went to his computer, working on a transceiver, picking up the G.U.N frequency on it.

"If we listen in," he thought, "We'll know where to find them."

Rouge and Shadow teleported into a mini base in Soleanna. They saw a cave leading to the outside, a map of Soleanna, and a portrait of the princess of Soleanna next to them.

"Ah,** Soleanna. The city of water**," she said, "It has a constitutional monarchy, you know. The primary industries are tourism and crafting precision machinery."

Shadow looked at the portrait of the princess as Rouge continued. "Its current sovereign is **Princess Sally Alicia Acorn**."

"Why does Robotnik's base lead to an odd place like this?" asked Shadow.

"I'd heard he's been planning to invade it sometime tonight over there and made some preparations beforehand with some robots. Not our business until G.U.N. tells us," said Rouge, "I just followed my orders and retrieved the item. Anyway, I have a little favor to ask you. Could you escort little old me to the G.U.N rendezvous point?"

"Where is it?" he asked, "And flirting won't get you anywhere."

Rouge pointed at a red area on the map, close to where Soleanna is. "It's the ancient castle of Soleanna in **Kingdom Valley**," she answered, "Let's get going." As they walked out of the cave, a voice was heard only to Shadow.

"Shadow....Shadow...." it whispered, "I...will.....kill...you!"

"Who's there?" he asked.

"Shadow, what is it?" Rouge asked.

"Nothing," he answered. "What was that?" he asked himself, "And how did it know my name?"

**_To Be Continued!_**


	2. Chapter 2: Kingdom Valley

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this fanfic nor do I own Sonic the Hedgehog. All copyright claims of Sonic the Hedgehog and all its material rightfully belongs to Sega and Sonic Team. I am not making money off of this, it is a story written for enjoyment and fun for fans of the series._**

Sonic the Hedgehog

CHAPTER 2: SHADOW

**_Act 2: Kingdom Valley Zone: Part 2_**

After escaping from Robotnik's base in White Acropolis, Shadow and Rouge headed for Kingdom Valley, to meet up with G.U.N. Shadow and Rouge walked around in Soleanna to find a into Kingdom Valley as they didn't have any transportation with them. All the while, Shadow pondered about the voice he heard that threatened to kill him.

"Who was that?" he asked himself.

"Now I got you, Sonic!" said a voice.

Someone ran up behind Shadow and grabbed him in an embrace. He looked to see it was Amy again, the same girl he spoke with onboard the ARK.

"You're not Sonic!" she said as she looked at him, "You're Shadow!"

"This is the 2nd time you thought he was Sonic, little girl," said Rouge, "Either you're stupid or you need glasses."

"Looks who's talking," Amy said back, "You should see the way you're dressed!"

"How dare you!" said the insulted Rouge.

"Enough!" said Shadow. "Let's just be on our way."

Shadow continued walking into the city as Rouge followed after, looking back at Amy who stuck her tongue out to insult her.

As Shadow and Rouge walked forward, Shadow stop short.

"What is it?" Rouge asked. "

Don't turn around," he answered, "We're being watched."

A robot watched from behind them, sent by Robotnik's teleporter to capture Shadow and Rouge. He threw a Chaos Spear at it, destroying completely. The people close by turned their attention to the sound of the explosion, wondering what happened. They looked at the 2 nearby the explosion; Rouge and Shadow, wondering if they had something to do with it.

They continued walking as Rouge said, "Looks like he's not giving up yet, is he?"

"The sooner we get to Kingdom Valley, the better," Shadow answered.

They came across a G.U.N boat in the harbor of the city.

"Looks like they prepared us a ride," said Rouge.

Shadow boarded the boat as Rouge flew into it. He turned it on and set its course for Kingdom Valley. As the ship sailed, the mysterious whisper came to Shadow again.

"Shadow....the....hedgehog...." it whispered, ".....You....will....die!"

"What is this?" Shadow asked himself, "Who is it that knows my name?"

"It's a shame I hadn't brought my bathing suit," said Rouge as she sat on the board, looking at the scepter in her hands.

"Stick 'em up!" yelled an unseen voice.

A small robot emerged from below the ship, armed with an oversized gun with a wide barrel to it.

"Now if you're smart to listen to me," said the robot, "You'll take this boat over ta Robotnik! Or else I'd blow this ship up and we'll see how good ya are at swimming, Sonic!"

"Why do they always think I'm him?" Shadow asked out loud.

"My, if it isn't Coconuts," said Rouge.

"And you!" said Coconuts as he pointed the gun at Rouge, "If you're smart, you would hand over that scepter ta me!"

"Oh, you mean this?" she asked, "Well, I just like to hold onto it for a little while."

"We don't have to time to deal with weaklings like you," said Shadow.

He quickly dashed next to Coconut and kicked him off of the boat and into the air. Coconuts took aim at Shadow while in the air and fired, shooting a spring-loaded boxing glove at him. Without even looking, Shadow punched the glove away, sending it back and punching Coconuts with his own weapon in the face and drop him into the water.

"A boxing glove?" Rouge asked, "Not a very good weapon to take hostages with."

They arrived at Kingdom Valley after a while after sailing in the boat. They left the boat and headed deep into the valley, shortly arriving at the rendezvous point.

"The former king of Soleanna used to reside in this castle," said Rouge to pass the time, "But a major accident occurred 5 years ago, and no one's lived here ever since."

"Accident?" Shadow asked.

"I heard a prototype energy engine failed, which caused the accident. I think the name of the plan was...."

"The Solaris Project," said Robotnik appearing in his Egg-O-Matic and finishing Rouge's sentence. "It was an ambitious project named after their eternal sun god."

"Robotnik," said Rouge as she saw him.

"It's been a while, Dear Rouge," said Robotnik, "And of course, Shadow. Now, if you would be so kind as to hand back the **Scepter of Darkness** you took from me."

"Is that what it's called?" Shadow thought, "Scepter of Darkness?"

Robots flew down from the air, surrounding Shadow and Rouge with guns drawn to fire. They split up, avoiding the gunfire with Shadow running around the robots and destroying them as Rouge flew in the air. She looked down to check on Shadow for a second before looking back and seeing the Egg-O-Matic's arms up close. It punched her out of the sky as she let out a scream and the Scepter dropped.

"No!" Robotnik yelled, "She dropped the Scepter! Catch it!"

Shadow see the falling Rouge and Scepter. Thinking quickly, he dashed and caught Rouge from falling to her death. The robots rushed to catch the scepter, but were too late as it shattered before they could reach it. They started to malfunction for a strange reason as Shadow walked to observe the remains of the Scepter. Suddenly, a black smoke erupted out of the remains, destroying the surrounding robots.

"It's no use!" said Robotnik, "I gotta get out of here!"

The dark smoke finished destroying the robots and landed near the remains of the scepter as it came into contact of Shadow's shadow. As the 2 looked, his shadow was being absorbed into the black smoke.

"What?" said Rouge, "His shadow!"

The black smoke started to take form, turning into something their eyes couldn't believe; The smoke transformed into Shadow himself, although colorless with gray streaks of fur than red, green sinister looking eyes and no mouth, yet it spoke.

"Oh, how ironic fate can be!" he said, "I would never have believed I was resurrected in your shade. I thank you, Shadow the Hedgehog!"

He bowed his head as a token of thanking him as Shadow asked, "Who are you? And how do you know my name?" Shadow asked.

While keeping his head down and slowly walking toward them, the Shadow look-a-like introduced himself,

"I'm **Mephiles**!" he said, "**_Mephiles the Dark_**! What...did you forget me? I owe much to you, Shadow."

Shadow and Rouge back away from him as he raised his arm, looking like he planned to attack.

"Oh yes," he said, "What you gave to me, I now return to you! A one-way ticket to oblivion!" A large dome appeared around the 3, trapping them inside.

It zapped them with bolts of energy as they screamed in pain before disappearing from sight, along with the menacing creature, Mephiles.

**_To Be Continued!_**


	3. Chapter 3: Crisis City

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this fanfic nor do I own Sonic the Hedgehog. All copyright claims of Sonic the Hedgehog and all its material rightfully belongs to Sega and Sonic Team. I am not making money off of this, it is a story written for enjoyment and fun for fans of the series._**

Sonic the Hedgehog

CHAPTER 2: SHADOW

**_Act 3: Crisis City Zone: Part 2_**

After being trapped inside Mephiles' sphere, Shadow and Rouge were teleported to an unknown location after falling out of the portal. They looked around, seeing they were in a destroyed city covered with flames and destruction.

"What is this place?" Rouge asked.

"It seems we've been teleported to another location," Shadow answered, "But where exactly?"

"Well, lets find out where we are," said Rouge. She ran to find something to tell them where they are as Shadow stood by to ask himself, "Mephiles....What is he?" and followed Rouge soon after.

They soon managed to find a working computer, as Rouge started to activate it.

"I'm in," she said, "I've pinpointed our location, it's....No, it's not possible!"

"What is it?" Shadow asked.

"We're still in Soleanna," she said, "But how can that be? Wait, there's no doubt about it now."

"So, it's not where we are," said Shadow, "But when we are."

Rouge looked into more info of the computer, seeing they were correct on where they are.

"It appears we've gone through time, doesn't it?" Shadow asked.

"Yes," said Rouge, "About **200 years**. Maybe more, depending on when this database was last updated. Well, at least we know we've arrived in the future. That means this Mephiles character has the power to control time."

"His powers feel very similar to my own Chaos Control," said Shadow, "But..." A

n alarm went off on the computer as the two looked at it, seeing a Time distortion somewhere in the city.

"Is it him?" Shadow asked.

"Only one way to find out," said Rouge. They rushed to see what was the distortion in the city.

After being sucked into a portal by Robotnik's machine, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles suddenly found themselves falling down and landing in a run-down building. As Sonic landed on his feet, Tails fell on his bottom and Knuckles fell on his head, giving him a headache.

"Boy, do I feel dizzy," said Tails, "Where are we?"

As the 3 looked around to figure out where they are, they heard a familiar voice.

"Oh, look who's here," it said, "I didn't expect to see you guys."

The trio looked up and saw familiar faces; Rouge the Bat and Shadow the Hedgehog in a room above them.

"Rouge! Shadow!" said Tails.

"Hi," said Rouge, "Long time no see."

"What are you guys doing here?" Sonic asked, "And what is here?"

"You'd have to see yourself," said Shadow, "Follow us."

Shadow and Rouge lead the trio out to the outside. They were stunned to see that the world seemed to be destroyed; Buildings destroyed, void of life, and enveloped in flames.

"W-What is this?" asked Tails, "Is this even Mobius?"

"This is the distant future. Far removed from our own timeline."

"The future?" Tails asked, "Then that means Robotnik's machine can control time!"

"Robuttnik's sure got some nerve dropping us here," said Sonic.

After kicking a rock, Knuckles asked, "So, how can we get back to our own time?"

Shadow answered, "You need a space-time rift, but this requires a lot of energy."

"I see," said Sonic, "You mean using your Chaos Control will..."

"Yes!" Shadow said, cutting Sonic in mid-sentence, "But that alone is insufficient!"

"Ok, Shadow," said Sonic, "It looks like we need to work together."

"No way!" said Knuckles, "I ain't working with that bat girl!"

"What's wrong?" Rouge asked, "Afraid that I'll show you up?"

"What was that?" He angrily asked Rouge.

"Guys, enough!" said Tails, "Like it or not, Knuckles, you guys have to work together if we're gonna get back."

"Fine," said Knuckles, "The longer I stay here, the longer the Master Emerald stays unprotected...But when we get back, I don't want to see your face again, bat girl!"

"Fine by me," said Rouge, "Your face is already getting to me."

Knuckles growled as Sonic asked Shadow, "So, what should we do?"

"You'll head back to the data base," said Shadow, "Robotnik had a secret lab here in Soleanna while we were sent here. There, you can use the Doctor's computer to locate the Chaos Emeralds and find any reports on how to use them for Time travel."

"What about you two?" Sonic asked.

"We'll be looking for the emeralds until you contact us," said Shadow, "I can sense some of them somewhere in the area."

Shadow started to search for the Emerald as Rouge stood behind to say, "See you later," and winked before leaving.

After they went their own way, Sonic and his friends going to the computer room and Rouge and Shadow to find an emerald.

"So, you knew that Chaos Emeralds could time travel?" Rouge asked.

"Not exactly," he said, "It's a theory really. If Chaos Control can warp through space with only 1 Emerald, then 2 could make a more powerful warp. Maybe."

"If you knew that," said Rouge, "Why didn't you try it before? I mean you could have used it to save Mar..."

She stopped before she said her name, remembering what that name meant to Shadow.

He stopped, answering to her, "I know what you're going to say. **Maria's** dead, and I have to learn not to dwell on it. It's what she wanted me to do; To move on with my life and live for the both of us. I can't afford to damage the past, like Mephiles is probably doing."

Shadow started to run as they continued looking for the Emerald. "Maria..." Shadow thought, "Even if I stopped you from dying onboard the ARK, it wouldn't have mattered anyway...But I'll protect the world you loved so much from ending up this way."

Rouge and Shadow fought themselves being chased by creatures of fire flying all around them and breaking through the roads.

"What are these?" Rouge said.

"Whatever they are," said Shadow, "They won't get in my way!"

Shadow jumped over the creatures, attacking them with a combination of Chaos Control and Chaos Spear, defeating them all in an instance. They resumed their search.

Eventually after searching from under rubble and Shadow's sense, they came across an emerald; The** Green Chaos Emerald**. Taken by its beauty, Rouge quickly snatched it away, gazing at it. After finding it, they went to meet up with Sonic and the others.

"My precious Chaos Emerald," said Rouge as she looked at it, "You are all so beautiful. Your magnificent brilliance."

Something caught Shadow's eye as he walked, bringing him to a stop. Rouge looked too, seeing something surprising to them. Their comrade, **E-123 Omega**; One of Robotnik's E-1 Series robots that betrayed him.

"Omega?" Rouge said in a surprised tone, "What's he doing here?"

They walked over to their comrade, seeing he appeared to be off. Shadow opened his back to check his systems.

"It seems he's in Standby mode," he said.

"He's lucky to survive 200 years," said Rouge, "What could have possibly happened to create this future?"

Shadow just shook his head as a transmission was heard on Rouge's wristwatch.

"Yes," she said, "This is Rouge....Understood, we'll be there in a minute."

She switched off her communicator and said, "It looks like Sonic and his friends have found something, too. Let's go."

Shadow looked at Omega, wondering if he turn him back on somehow.

"It's not like we can do anything for him now," said Rouge, "We better be going."

"Yeah," said Shadow.

They deserted their comrade and headed toward where Tails said to meet them, hoping they've found a Chaos Emerald.

**_To Be Continued!_**


	4. Chapter 4: Flame Core

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this fanfic nor do I own Sonic the Hedgehog. All copyright claims of Sonic the Hedgehog and all its material rightfully belongs to Sega and Sonic Team. I am not making money off of this, it is a story written for enjoyment and fun for fans of the series._**

Sonic the Hedgehog

CHAPTER 2: SHADOW

**_Act 4: Flame Core Zone: Part 2_**

After discovering where a Chaos Emerald was located, Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails left to get it after contacting Rouge and Shadow to meet them at the location with Robotnik's computer. When they arrived at the location, near a massive dormant volcano; Created as a result of the destroyed future.

"You guys are so slow," said Rouge as she and Shadow arrived first, "Look."

She held up an Emerald, showing it to them that they found the Green Chaos Emerald.

"A Chaos Emerald!" said Tails, "You've already found one!"

"Well now...I may not look like it," said Rouge, "But I'm a real treasure hunter. Unlike a certain Echidna I know."

"What was that?" Knuckles said in an angry tone.

"Have you guys discovered anything?" Shadow asked.

"Um, yeah," Tails answered, "I've discovered a signal indicating there's a Chaos Emerald here, but..."

"You mean we've got to go through there?" Rouge asked.

"If you don't like it," said Knuckles, "You can stay here!"

"You've got to be kidding," said Rouge.

"Don't be late," said Sonic to Shadow.

"Same to you," he replied as he walked on his own to the volcano.

The 5 raced to the dormant volcano to find the Chaos Emerald. Sonic and Shadow jumped from rock to rock, avoiding the lava below them as Rouge, Knuckles and Tails flew. They encountered more of the fire creatures they saw at the ruins of the city.

"These things again?" Shadow said.

"Friends of yours?" Sonic asked.

"They're no friends of mine," Shadow answered, "Chaos Spear!"

Using his chaos powers, Shadow dispatched the creatures with ease.

"This is taking too long," Shadow said, "We already have a Chaos Emerald. Might as well use it."

The 4 gathered around him as he was about to use its power.

"Chaos Control!"

After teleporting to the inside of the volcano, they saw the **Cyan Chaos Emerald** on the other side of the interior of the volcano.

"That was easy," said Rouge as she went to pick it up.

As she bent over to pick it up, Shadow quickly yelled, "Don't touch it!"

Suddenly, a large snake-like creature broke through the soft rock covering the lava, taking the Chaos Emerald with it as Rouge jumped back to avoid it. It leered at them with a malevolent intent of destroying them.

"What is that?" Tails asked.

"Whatever it is," said Sonic, "It doesn't look too friendly."

The creature attacked them as they jumped away to avoid it, breaking through the ground they were just on and disappearing into the lava.

"Where'd it go?" Knuckles asked.

"It's underneath us," said Tails, "Watch out! It could pop up any moment!"

The 5 struggled to fight against the snake-like creature as it breaks through the ground in a sneak attack and dived back down to hide.

"What a cowardly beast," said Shadow, "It wouldn't fight face-to-face! Chaos Spear!"

He threw a spear into the lava where the creature dived into.

"You think he got it?" Tails asked.

The lava started to bubble.

"Seems like it," said Knuckles.

An arm shot out of the water and pinned Shadow to the wall.

"What the?" said Sonic. T

he creature emerged from the lava again, showing it grew an arm. Another grew out right in front of them.

"W-What is that thing?" Tails asked.

Using Chaos Control, Shadow escaped the creature's grasp.

"There's more to this creature than meets the eye," said Shadow.

"Doesn't matter what it meets," said Sonic, "All that matters is getting that Chaos Emerald!"

Sonic started using his Spin Dash attack, striking the creature's third eye. It barely knocked it back as Sonic was thrown back, caught on fire by the intense.

"Yeow!" he screamed, "Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!"

He quickly ran in a circle, putting out the fire almost immediately. "Whew! For a minute, I thought I was gonna be a smoking hedgehog."

"You fool," said Shadow, "If you've paid attention, you would have noticed the creature's made of intense heat!"

"Then how are we gonna hit it?" Knuckles asked.

"Just shut up and leave it to me," said Shadow.

He fought against the creature, using his Chaos Spears to attack and Chaos Control to warp and escape its attack.

"I'm not letting you have all the fun!" said Sonic.

"Sonic, we just saw using your Spin Dash can burn you!" Tails remarked.

"Then I'll hit and run," said Sonic, "No way I'm getting burned like that!"

Sonic jumped into the fray as well as Knuckles did. Rouge sat behind with Tails, saying "There's no way I'm getting near a walking inferno. It'll just ruined my makeup."

"But it has the Emerald, Rouge!" said Tails.

"So what?" she answered, "I'll just let the boys handle it for me."

The battle raged on with Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles fighting the lava creature, they realized that the creature seemed to be unstoppable, as it never tired out from the battle.

"What is this thing made of?" Sonic asked, "We've thrown everything at it and it's still coming back for more!"

"It must be the emerald!" Tails shouted, "If we get the Emerald away from it, we could beat it!"

"I wish you said that sooner, Fox," said Shadow, "It would have made this easier. Chaos Control!"

Shadow warped through it, stealing the emerald within without it burning him, thanks to the power of the emeralds.

"Nice going, Shadow!" said Sonic, "Now let's see how tough this thing is!"

After stealing the emerald from the monster, it lost its extra strength. Their attacks started to affect it now as it showed signs of injury.

"You ain't so tough now, are ya?" Sonic asked.

"Pathetic," said Shadow.

The battle came to a close as the creature sustained numerous injuries from the constant attacks. It retreated back into the lava to recover.

"We did it!" said Sonic.

"Don't be too sure," said Shadow, "It just retreated for now. It's best to escape before it returns."

Sonic and Shadow each took up 1 of the 2 Emeralds, using its power in unison, shouting, "Chaos Control!"

The energy of the Emeralds collided with each other from using the warping powers of Chaos Control, creating a rip in time and space. Wasting no time, Sonic and his friends jumped in as Rouge jumped after. As Shadow was about to jump in, something caught his attention. He saw a ball of fire floating in the air along with a blackish smoke, like that of Mephiles from before. He threw the Green Emerald into the portal just as it closes, trapping him in the future as Mephiles made himself known.

Rouge returned to the present as the Green Emerald appeared next to her. She looked around herself, seeing Shadow was nowhere to be found.

"Shadow? Shadow!" she called. "He's still in the future!" she realized, "And he doesn't have a Chaos Emerald!"

"Agent Rouge!" she heard on her watch. "Rouge? Do you copy?" asked the General, "We lost contact with you. Report your status immediately: Have you retrieved the Scepter of Darkness from Robotnik's base?"

"Well..." she said, "I'll provide a short report shortly. Right now, I have a priority situation to deal with. I need to contact E-123 Omega Immediately."

"Understood," he said, "Over and out."

She ended the transmission as she picked up the Chaos Emerald, and flew to meet up with Omega.

"Now I know why you're there in the future, Omega," she said, "Hang on, Shadow!"

**To Be Continued!**


	5. Chapter 5:Tropical Jungle

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this fanfic nor do I own Sonic the Hedgehog. All copyright claims of Sonic the Hedgehog and all its material rightfully belongs to Sega and Sonic Team. I am not making money off of this, it is a story written for enjoyment and fun for fans of the series._**

Sonic the Hedgehog

CHAPTER 2: SHADOW

**_Act 5: Tropical Jungle Zone: Part 2_**

After requesting G.U.N to send Omega, Rouge went to meet up with him, she flew over a jungle over a continent not too far from where Soleanna was. She heard gunfire coming out of it and went to investigate it.

"Sounds like Omega may have some trouble," she thought.

As she went closer, she made out a red figure in the green jungle.

"That's him," she said, "I recognize that color anywhere."

As she flew even closer, she saw him fought off against Robotnik's robots, destroying them with his machine guns. She assisted him by taking out one from behind him, kicking its head off. Omega turned around with guns drawn, seeing it was only Rouge who took out a robot.

"Rouge the Bat," he said.

"Hi there," she greeted him, "Long time no see."

"G.U.N said you requested me. What of my assistance do you require?" Omega asked.

Back in the future, Shadow was now trapped after throwing the emerald into the portal before it closed. He did so when Mephiles appeared and confronted him alone. He saw Mephiles standing on a small pillar in front of him, still taking Shadow's appearance.

"So, decided to void your return ticket home, did you?" Mephiles asked.

"Why are you here?" Shadow asked, "Did you ruin this world?"

"The answer is Yes and No," he answered, "Perhaps it's better to show you."

Mephiles made an object appear next to him for Shadow to see. After looking closely into it, Shadow was shocked to see it was_**himself** trapped in a type of containment_.

"Yes, that's you," said Mephiles, "After the world was devastated by Iblis' flames, what do you think happened? A search for the guilty. Who did this you may ask? People wasn't just jealous of your power, they feared it!"

As Shadow looked down in confusion and shook his head, Mephiles continued. "They used this incident as an excuse to hunt you down!" he said, "Come with me, Shadow. Let us punish this foolish world of humanity. It is only fair to give back what was intended for you. You have every right to want justice."

"That's absurd!" said Shadow, "Whatever it is you want to do, you can do it alone!"

"You forgive people for this folly then?" asked Mephiles about Shadow's future.

"I determine my own destiny," he answered.

Seeing Shadow refused to join him, Mephiles went through a transformation; Transforming into a more twisted version of Shadow's appearance with glowing green pupils, no nose, glowing sky dark and white with red eyes.

"Such foolishness," said Mephiles.

From his shadow, countless clones appeared from within it, surrounding Shadow with their numbers.

"Don't bother trying to deceive me," said Shadow, "I know who I am."

Returning to the present, Rouge explained everything to Omega and what he had to do.

"Situation understood," he said.

"Take this and deliver to Shadow also," she said as she handed him the Chaos Emerald, "This emerald's from the future, so it shouldn't be here at all."

He took the emerald from her and stored it inside of him.

"System reactivation countdown initiated," he said, "Backup Power source and spare ammunition secured."

Starting up his standby phase set for 200 years, Rouge said, "I'm counting on you."

He flew toward Soleanna where Rouge said for him to wait. After doing so, E-123 Omega would enter Standby phase until the appointed time in 200 years.

Back in the future, the fight between Shadow and Mephiles continued as the battle moved toward the destroyed city. Despite fighting the countless Mephiles clones, Shadow could never find the real one out of all of them.

"It doesn't matter how many of them you defeat," said Mephiles voice, "You know you can't defeat me."

"Where is he?" Shadow asked, "Where's the real one?"

The Mephiles clones started to grab onto him, piling on top of him and trapping him in.

"Chaos Spear!" he yelled.

The explosion destroyed the clones around him as he started to tire.

"These shadows he's controlling," he said, "I've got to figure out their origin."

As he looked down, something in his shadow caught his eye. He looked behind him and found Mephiles was inside **his shadow** the whole time.

"That's where you are!" he said.

"Even if you know where I am," he said, "You can't fight a shadow! I'm your shadow. You can't even touch me!"

"I guess there's no better time to use it then," said Shadow.

"What are you planning?" Mephiles asked.

"Chaos!" Shadow yelled.

His Chaos powers activated, giving him a red aura and new strength, The sudden burst of power was enough to separate him from Mephiles, forcing him to leave his shadow.

"What?" he said, "You!"

In his more powerful state and with the location of the real Mephiles discovered, he unleashed a barrage of attacks at him, inflicting numerous injuries to him until his Chaos Burst ran out of power.

Mephiles was down in defeat as Shadow stood over him. When it seemed like he won, Mephiles turned around, standing up and firing an energy blast at the weary Shadow throwing him at a wall. Shadow went on his knees with no strength to fight. Mephiles walked toward him to finish him off when a trail of bullets fired between them, forcing him to step back. Shadow turned to look it came from Omega, woken up from his 200 year old standby.

"Omega!" he said.

"Now is the designated time," said Omega as he withdrew his gun, "I shall now assist..."

**To Be Continued!**


	6. Chapter 6:Radical Train

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this fanfic nor do I own Sonic the Hedgehog. All copyright claims of Sonic the Hedgehog and all its material rightfully belongs to Sega and Sonic Team. I am not making money off of this, it is a story written for enjoyment and fun for fans of the series._**

Sonic the Hedgehog

CHAPTER 2: SHADOW

**_Act 6: Radical Train Zone: Part 2_**

After 200 years in Stand-By, E-123 Omega woke up in the distant destroyed future, just in time to rescue Shadow from Mephiles. He walked over to Shadow and handed him the Chaos Emerald he stored within himself for 200 years.

"An emerald?" Mephiles asked, "But how did...Oh, I see. Clever. Bring the future emerald back from the present."

"Stay back and recover," said Omega, "I shall fight instead."

"Just try machine," said Mephiles as he started to make clones of himself.

To his surprise, the robot came with many weapons at his disposal. dispatching the clones before he could blink, gunning him down too shortly after.

The gunfire threw him back as he fell.

Although showed no injuries, he still showed weariness as he staggered to his feet.

As Shadow recovered his strength and prepared to fight against Mephiles along with Omega, Mephiles opened up a portal above him to escape.

He jumped in as Shadow yelled "Mephiles!" and followed after him with and Omega.

After they jumped out of the time portal, they found themselves back in Soleanna in the present day.

"It appears Mephiles is no longer here," said Omega, "I will assist in pursuing him."

Shadow nodded as they chased after him together.

"Transmission with HQ!" Shadow heard on his watch.

He turned on and said, "Shadow here."

"Agent Shadow," said the commander, "We've lost contact with you the same time as Agent Rouge the bat, is everything all right?"

"Affirmative," he answered, "Where is Rouge?"

"She said to wait for you at the warehouse district," he answered, "Meet up with her ASAP."

"Understood," said Shadow, "Shadow, over and out."

Shadow and Omega traveled to the warehouse district of Soleanna to meet Rouge. When they arrived to it shortly, Rouge was nowhere to be found.

"Hi!" said a familiar voice from behind. They looked behind to see it was Rouge.

"Looks like you're back, but for how long? It seems like Robotnik's machines are looking for you," she said, "What did you do this time?"

"Nothing," he answered, "Their target is probably Mephiles."

"What is Robotnik up to?" asked Omega, "Who is Mephiles?"

"I'm going to ask him directly," said Shadow, "If anyone knows about Mephiles, it's Robotnik."

"Hey, wait a sec!" said Rouge. "I can handle this alone," he said, "You keep track of Mephiles."

Shadow left on his own to find Robotnik, leaving Rouge and Omega by themselves.

"Hmph!" said Rouge, "He finally shows up again, and then he leaves before even saying Hello. Well, it seems his little trip hadn't changed him."

She opened up her wristwatch and contacted G.U.N. "This is Rouge," she called, "Calling G.U.N HQ." "This is HQ," answered the commander. "Do you require something?" "Yes," she said, "Pull all available data on an item called the Scepter of Darkness for me," she said, "Rouge, Over and out."

"Understood," he said.

The transmission cut off as Rouge and Omega searched for Mephiles' whereabouts.

As Shadow went to find Robotnik, he came across a news bulletin in a nearby store, seeing news of a runaway train that was heading toward Soleanna's station.

He saw Robotnik's logo on it and realized where he was.

He dashed to the train station as fast as he can to catch Robotnik.

He arrived at the station, seeing the train at already left and there was a struggle going on with the guards and Sonic's friends: Tails and Knuckles.

While they weren't looking, he jumped over the gate and followed after the train.

He soon caught up with the train after it left the area around Soleanna.

"There it is!" he said. As he caught up to its speed, he used a spin dash at it, pummeling at the back of it to slow it down and worked his way to the front of it, where he broke through the roof to the engine room.

There, Robotnik was waiting for him. "Wouldn't the door have been easier?" Robotnik asked.

As he turned his chair around to face Shadow, he asked, "So, what do you want now?"

"Who is Mephiles?" Shadow answered, "And why are you trying to capture him?"

"If you want to know," said Robotnik, "You should go find him yourself. But here's a hint: It's all linked to the Soleanna disaster 10 years ago."

"The Solaris project," Shadow realized.

"Indeed," said Robotnik as he stroke his moustache, "When you capture Mephiles, you will bring him to me. Then I'll tell you the truth about Solaris."

Shadow suddenly grabbed Robotnik's collar and pushed him against the wall, yelling, "I'm not your errand boy! Tell me now!"

"Ah, ah, ah!" said Robotnik, "Lay one finger on me and...." Guns opened up covering the walls, all aiming at Shadow.

"Even with your speed, you can't escape in this confined room," said Robotnik.

Seeing there was no other choice, Shadow let him down as the guns withdrew.

"Ok then," he said, "I'll bring you Mephiles." He left through the hole of the roof as Robotnik sat back down and pressed a button on his chair.

As Sonic the Hedgehog ran through the field with princess Sally in his hands after rescuing her, a blast was fired. He jumped away in time, nearly being hit.

"It's you!" he said as he saw the culprit: Silver the Hedgehog.

"This time," said Silver, "There will be no more interruptions!"

Sonic put Sally down and said, "Go hide until this blows over."

After she hid, he talked to Silver, "So, back again? Eh, Silver? I guess you wanted to make it 3 times."

"Don't mock me," said Silver, "Die!"

Silver threw another psychic blast as Sonic dodged it like before.

"Doesn't matter if you have mind powers!" said Sonic, "If you can't catch up with me, it's worthless!"

"Why are they fighting?" Sally asked as she hid, "That's not how Silver acted when I met him. What's going on? What's the point of fighting like this?"

"Enjoyed your little stroll, princess?" asked a voice from behind. Sally looked behind just in time to witness the Egg-O-Matic's arms right in front of her.

"No!" she yelled.

Sonic saw her being kidnapped again after hearing her scream.

"Sally!" he yelled.

"Now I have you!" said Silver. Using his Psychokinesis, Silver captured Sonic, crushing him with his mind.

"It's time to end this!" he said. He tightened his hold on him as Sonic screamed in pain.

"It's no use!" said Silver, "The more you struggle, the tighter it gets! Just wait and die!"

As he was about to crush Sonic to death, a spear of light came down, striking Silver's hand and undoing his hold on Sonic.

Sonic gasped for air as Shadow came down in front of him.

"Mephiles!" Silver yelled to Shadow, "Why are you getting in my way?"

"Mephiles?" he answered, "I'm Shadow; Shadow the Hedgehog!"

Shadow looked back at Sonic, telling him, "Go, leave this pathetic weakling to me."

"Thanks, buddy!" he said as he ran off to rescue Sally.

"I'm not your buddy," he whispered.

The stage was set as Shadow, the Ultimate Life-Form, prepared to square off against Silver, the psychic Hedgehog!

**To Be Continued!**


	7. Chapter 7:Aquatic Base

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this fanfic nor do I own Sonic the Hedgehog. All copyright claims of Sonic the Hedgehog and all its material rightfully belongs to Sega and Sonic Team. I am not making money off of this, it is a story written for enjoyment and fun for fans of the series._**

Sonic the Hedgehog

CHAPTER 2: SHADOW

**_Act 7: Aquatic Base Zone: Part 2_**

After rescuing Sonic, Shadow took it upon himself to fight against the mysterious silver hedgehog who confused him for Mephiles. Silver began the fight as he grab a hold of Shadow with his Psychokinesis.

"W-What's this?" Shadow asked.

"You shouldn't have underestimated me!" said Silver, "This fighte is already over!"

"Chaos Control!" Shadow yelled.

Using his power, Shadow escaped from his hold, surprising Silver.

"What?" he said, "Where'd he go?"

"Don't think I'm easy prey," said Shadow who appeared behind him.

Silver turned around, just to see Shadow's foot in his face before kicking him down.

"What?" said Silver, "How?"

"You should give up now," said Shadow, "With a Chaos Emerald, I can control time and space. You can't break free!"

"Chaos Emerald?" he asked, "So, you have one too?"

Silver showed Shadow what he had with him: Another Chaos Emerald, the **Blue emerald**.

"_An Emerald_!" he said.

"What was it you said?" Silver asked, "Chaos Control? If you can do it, so can I!"

He raised his arm into the air as he prepared to copy Shadow.

Realizing he would be in trouble, Shadow prepared to use Chaos Control as well, resulting in both of them using it at the same time.

"Chaos Control!" they yelled in unison.

The result of the 2 hedgehogs using Chaos Control in unison created a distortion in time and space, creating a time hole as Sonic and Shadow did before.

"You induced Chaos Control!" said Shadow.

"That doesn't matter!" said Silver, "All that matters to me is to destroy the Iblis Trigger and save my world!"

"Mephiles isn't trying to help you create a better future," Shadow explained, "He's trying to _eliminate_ the past!"

Silver was confused by what he said, asking him, "What are you talking about? Why would someone try to destroy the past of an already destroyed future?"

"To discovered what happened," said Shadow, "It seems we must see what took place 5 years ago. Follow me if you want the truth."

Using the time hole, Shadow jumped into it to return to the past as Silver followed him to see what he was talking about.

The 2 hedgehogs jumped out of the portal, finding themselves in some sort of facility.

"Where is this?" asked Silver.

As Shadow was about to explain a young girl bumped into Silver, knocking her down.

"Ouch!" she said, "That hurt!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Silver, "Here, let me help you up."

As he held out his hand, the young girl, who was a **young princess Sally**, got a good look at his face as she said, "Thank you, Mr..."

"Call me Silver," he said as he helped her up.

"Ok then," she said, "Mr. Silver."

She ran off into the hallway, as Shadow told Silver where they were.

"This is 5 years ago," he said, "This is when_ **Iblis** and **Mephiles** was born_."

"Wait," said Silver, "What did you say?"

Elsewhere in the facility, an experiment was taking place; **The Solaris project**, overseen by the **Duke of Soleanna** himself. Despite all the safety procedures they've taken, the experiment still suffered greatly from the power of Solaris itself.

"An electromagnetic had just been generated," said a scientist, "Injecting decompression agent...No, the level's not dropping! A spatial meltdown is inevitable!"

"My Lord," said another, "It's too late! We've got to take shelter!"

Seeing their experiments was a failure, the Duke hit his desk in frustration.

"Why Solaris?" he asked, "Why do you refuse to listen to my voice?"

"Father!" cried a young voice. The Duke turned to see it was his daughter, Sally arriving.

"Sally!" he said, "Get back, it's danger-"

As he was about to tell her of the dangerous experiment going on, Solaris' power grew too unstable and exploded. Thinking quickly, the Duke grabbed his daughter to shield her from the explosion, taking all the force of it on himself. The explosion rocked the building, shaking the ground beneath Shadow and Silver who were nearby.

"What was that?" Silver asked.

"It happened," Shadow answered, "Follow me!"

The 2 hedgehogs arrived to see the aftermath of the failed Solaris Project. The laboratory was in ruins with glass littering the floor and bodies scattered, unknowing if they were still alive. They saw the Duke's body covering an unconscious Sally from the deadly explosion, wondering if they're still alive. Shadow walked over to check the Duke's condition, seeing he was alive but dying from his weakening pulse. As Silver went to check on another, he saw what appeared to be a small sun where the Solaris Project took place, looking very familiar to him.

"Is that what I think it is?" he asked.

The sun-like object started to crumble as the falling parts turned into a **black ooze** while the remains of the sun became a floating** ball of fire**.

"That flame!" said Silver, "It's** Iblis**!"

"And that black shadow is the**original Mephiles**," said Shadow as he pointed to the ooze.

"That's Mephiles?!" said Silver, shocked to learn that understanding.

"They're escaping!" he said as Iblis and Mephiles ran to escape.

"We'll have to split up," said Shadow, "I'll pursue Mephiles."

"Ok," Silver agreed, "Then leave Iblis to me!"

As they were about to run after the two, they heard a voice saying, "Wait!"

Shadow turned around to see the Duke was still alive and conscious, pointing at something. He looked at where he pointed; Where the 2 halves of Solaris came from, seeing a **scepter** embedded within the platform.

"**The Scepter of Darkness**!" Shadow realized.

"Seal them with that," the weak Duke said. Shadow took the scepter and continued his pursuit after Mephiles.

As Shadow chased after Mephiles with the scepter in hand, it slowly came to him as to how Mephiles _knew_ _him in the present_.

"So, I was meant to come here?"

he asked himself. With the Chaos Emerald in hand, Shadow called out to use Chaos Control when he came close enough to Mephiles, binding him with its power. He held out the Scepter at him, preparing the seal Mephiles within it.

"What?...Stop!" said the voice of Mephiles, sounding weak and tired. T

he Scepter started to absorb his liquid-like state as he had no way to escape it.

"Who....Who are...you?" he asked the one imprisoning him. "

I am Shadow," he answered, "**Shadow the Hedgehog**."

"Shadow," said Mephiles, "Your face...Your form...I will remember..."

As he was about to be fully trapped inside, he gave his last words to Shadow.

"Your death..." he said, "Certain...You....will _**die!"**_

After that, Mephiles became trapped in the Scepter of Darkness for 5 years as Shadow knows. He took the scepter in his hands and went to meet Silver.

He found Silver waiting for him outside with the young Sally in his arms.

"Did you get Mephiles?" Silver asked him.

"Yes," he answered, "And you?"

"Yes," Silver answered, "The "Flames" are properly sealed."

He laid the young princess to rest in the shade of a tree, looking sad for the girl. Shadow took the scepter he had and left it beside her.

"You're leaving it here?" Silver asked.

"Yes," he answered, "I already know what becomes of it in the future. It's time to return."

"Yes...of course," said Silver as he left Sally by herself.

The two hedgehogs held their Chaos Emeralds and shouted "**Chaos Control**!" in unison, creating the time hole. After it appeared, Shadow jumped in, returning to the present.

Shadow returned to modern day Soleanna where Rouge was waiting for him.

"You're back," she said, "Sooner than I expected."

He turned to see her waving him and telling him, "Omega is still in pursuit of Mephiles. So, where's the kid? What did you find 5 years ago?"

"I need you to access G.U.N's database," said Shadow, "Specifically, find out what materials the Scepter of Darkness was made from."

"Done and done," she said, "Look what I've got."

She held out the Scepter of Darkness she hid behind her back with her other hand, surprising Shadow.

"But when?" he asked.

"I've been busy while you were gone," she said as she winked.

"It looks like we can seal Mephiles now," he said.

"I go out of my way to surprise you, and you don't even say Thanks," said the disappointed bat. "Where's Omega now?"

**_To Be Continued!_**


	8. Chapter 8: Wave Ocean

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this fanfic nor do I own Sonic the Hedgehog. All copyright claims of Sonic the Hedgehog and all its material rightfully belongs to Sega and Sonic Team. I am not making money off of this, it is a story written for enjoyment and fun for fans of the series._**

Sonic the Hedgehog

CHAPTER 2: SHADOW

**_Act 8: Wave Ocean Zone: Part 2_**

After returning from the past with Silver and gaining the Scepter of Darkness to seal away Mephiles in the present, Shadow received a transmission on his watch.

"Transmission from HQ," said the commander, "Agent Shadow. Do you copy?"

"Shadow here," he answered, "What is it?"

"We've received word that Omega had made contact with Mephiles at Wave Island and is proceeding to apprehend him. Go assist Omega **ASAP**."

"Understood," said Shadow, "I'll be at Wave Island in a minute. Over and Out."

He closed the transmission and looked at Rouge, telling her to meet him at the island.

"What about this?" she asked as she held the scepter.

He picked it up from her and ran to the island, running on the water's surface toward the island. A large shadow loomed over Soleanna, blocking out the sun. Rouge looked to see it was Robotnik's Egg-Carrier, hearing his voice requesting Princess Sally's surrender.

"Looks like he's up to something," she said, "Doesn't matter me. I'll just let that blue boy handle the hero stuff."

She flew away to meet up with Shadow and Omega.

On Wave Island, Omega chased after Mephiles with his weapons armed to gun him downed. As he chased him to the edge, Shadow arrived at Wave Island with the scepter. Omega caught Mephiles at the edge of the island with one of his weapons, gunning him down with it and knocked him down.

"Ha, ha, ha," he laughed, "This only proves you were created to _stop Shadow_, the ultimate life-form."

Omega pulled back, wondering what he was talking about.

"Don't tell me you didn't know," he said, "You may have been programmed by people, but what you did to Shadow in the future, that was your...."

Omega quickly cut him off by firing at him again, knocking him down again.

Mephiles laughed as he disappeared in smoke, escaping Omega again.

Shadow arrived to his location shortly after along with Rouge who caught up.

"What just happened?" she asked.

"Shadow..." Omega said. He turned to face Shadow and tell him something surprising.

"The one that defeats and seals you in the future," he said, "....Is **me**!"

Shadow was taken by this, surprised that someone he knew would eventually imprison him in the future.

"What are you talking about?" Rouge asked, "It's...It's so unfair! Shadow's always here to defend the world. It's what Maria wants him to do!...Despite that..."

As Shadow looked away, Omega responded to Rouge by saying, "Eventually, when something, or someone is seen as too powerful...It is seen as a threat...and then the world becomes its enemy."

Shadow started to walk away from them.

"Shadow!" said Rouge, "_Even if you believe everyone in the world will be against you...Know that I'll always remain by your side. Remember that_."

He stopped walking away and turned back to her, answering to her by saying, "I will..."

"Where are you going, Shadow?" Omega asked.

"Mephiles was heading this direction," he said, "He's heading toward the desert; Maybe to find an emerald."

"Then let's get to it," said Rouge, "Like the 3 of us used to do, for old time's sake."

The 3 G.U.N agents headed for the desert, ready to face off against Mephiles for the last time.

**_To Be Continued!_**


	9. Chapter 9: Dusty Desert

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this fanfic nor do I own Sonic the Hedgehog. All copyright claims of Sonic the Hedgehog and all its material rightfully belongs to Sega and Sonic Team. I am not making money off of this, it is a story written for enjoyment and fun for fans of the series._**

Sonic the Hedgehog

CHAPTER 2: SHADOW

**_Final Act: Dusty Desert Zone: Part 2_**

Team Dark found themselves in the dusty desert where they knew Mephiles would be, along the Chaos Emerald.

"Mephiles must have headed for those ruins," said Rouge as she pointed to some ruins in the distance. "He's possibly looking for the Chaos Emerald that's suppose to be there."

"There's no doubt in my mind," said Shadow, "His movements shows he's seeking any Chaos Emeralds he can find. Supposedly. he needs one in order to join with Iblis again."

"I will seal him before that!" said Omega as he threw up his fist.

Feeling ready and with no regrets, Team Dark rushed into the ruins, preparing to defeat Mephiles once and for all.

They arrived inside the ruins shortly after, finding a massive room inside of it with Mephiles just in front of them, taking the **Yellow Chaos Emerald** on top a flight of stairs.

"Mephiles!" Shadow cried.

As he heard someone called his name, Mephiles turned around with the emerald in hand, looking at the trio below him.

"I was expecting you, Shadow," he said, "As you must know. You're already too late. But there's still time for you to change your mind. Join me, Shadow. Let us teach this world a lesson and rewrite the future."

"Don't try to deceive me!" Shadow replied.

"What?" Mephiles asked.

"You have no desire for revenge," Shadow said, "You only crave destruction! Your only lust is to fuel Iblis until there is nothing left of time itself!"

"It's a pity, Shadow the Hedgehog," Mephiles said he held out the Emerald, "Truly a shame that you wish to go against me!"

The Emerald's glow started to surround Mephiles and force the 3 below back. The ground became covered in darkness and Mephiles disappeared.

"Where did he go?" Rouge asked.

"Such is the foolishness of mortals," said Mephiles as he emerged out of the ground.

"Mephiles!" Shadow said, "I won't let you escape!"

He dashed toward him, only to just miss him as he fell back into the darkness below them, going through the floor when Shadow couldn't.

"He's over there!" Rouge said.

Mephiles jumped out of the darkness behind Shadow. Omega quickly unleashed his ammo on it, destroying it with ease.

"It was a clone!" Shadow said.

More clones jumped out of the ground as Mephiles yelled "Drown in Darkness!"

As the clones attacked, Team Dark fought them off with Rouge using her kicks, Omega's arsenals, and Shadow's Chaos Powers. When the onslaught of clones stopped, giants emerged from the pool of darkness, surrounding them.

"Hey, hey, hey!" said Rouge, "That doesn't look good!"

"Scans indicates that entities consists of numerous shadows," said Omega, "Still, I believe they can be destroyed!"

They started to attack the giants, using Shadow's Chaos Spears, Spin Dash, and Omega's weaponry to fight it, avoiding the giants' beams and arm swipes.

After unloading all of his ammo on them and running out, the giants were destroyed, but Omega was out of ammo.

"Out of Ammo" he said, "Must reload!"

"With all these shadows," Rouge said, "It looks like he can keep at this forever!"

"Not for long," Shadow thought as he remembered how to force Mephiles out of the ground from before.

Using his Chaos powers and Emerald, He went into his Chaos Mode. His aura glowed red as it pushed the darkness away from them with its presence alone and forced Mephiles out of the ground.

"What? Again?" he said.

Shadow then picked up the fight beating Mephiles to a pulp while he was in confusion. When he knocked him down, he threw all he had into one mighty Chaos Spear, striking Mephiles with all its power and wearing Shadow out.

As Mephiles stood up, he swayed from weakness, saying "I am....forever..." before melting back into his ooze-like state.

Shadow walked over to him with this Scepter of Darkness in hand, proceeding to seal him away again.

As Mephiles was forced into it, it seemed it was all over.

But then the scepter started to shake violently and shattered into a million piece, freeing Mephiles.

"I can't believe it!" said Rouge, "He destroyed it!"

"Ha, ha, ha, ha!" Mephiles laughed as he reformed, "The "I" of now absorbed your power through your shadow in the past. What may have worked 5 years ago no longer does!"

As his head and hands became formed again, he sent out a shockwave, breaking up the ground below Team Dark and then another to throw them off the ground and back, causing Shadow to lose the green emerald. He stole the emerald and used it with conjunction with the yellow one, using their powers together to create more clones than before and giants, surrounding the 3 in a hopeless situation.

"You must have realized now that you cannot hope to stop me with your limited power."

Shadow stood back up, remembering he had one more trump card. "So, you say..."

"The Future," said Mephiles, "The world will betray you! Why fight at all? Why risk your life for those who will persecute you later?"

As Rouge and Omega stood behind Shadow, he started to remove the** rings on his arms**, rings he wore to suppressed his powers, keeping them at a safe level. Removing them would be a risk to Shadow's life, but it will also **_greatly increase his power_**.

"_If the world chooses to be my enemy_," said Shadow as he took off a ring, "_I will fight like I always have_!"

He then removed the second ring. His power went up greatly as he charged forward into the Mephiles army with Rouge and Omega by his side, destroying the army with simple contact as the power of Shadow became known.

_~All Hail Shadow!  
Heroes rise again!  
Obliterating everything that's not your friend!  
Nothing can stop you now,  
No ghost to bring you down!  
there's nothing left to lose,  
You win!_

_(Bow your heads LOW!  
All Hail Shadow)_

_Suffer long and it will set you free!  
Only through trial do we find the strength we need  
It's never over, just another day  
Of hope and tragedies, and everything that comes our way_

_Determination of the strong,  
Found the meaning that you've searched for so long!_

_All Hail Shadow!  
Heroes rise again!  
Obliterating everything that's not your friend!  
Nothing can stop you now,  
No ghost to bring you down!  
there's nothing left to lose,  
You win!_

_(Bow your heads LOW!  
All Hail Shadow)_

_Somewhere in chaos we all find ourselves  
This destruction is the only tale we tell  
White is black and black is white,  
Right is wrong, wrong is right!_

_Nothing ever fills this hole inside your heart_

_Determination of the strong,  
Found the meaning that you've searched for so long_

_All Hail Shadow!  
Heroes rise again!  
Obliterating everything that's not your friend!  
Nothing can stop you now,  
No ghost to bring you down!  
there's nothing left to lose,  
You win!_

_(Bow your heads LOW!  
All Hail Shadow)_

_(Instrumental)_

_All Hail Shadow!  
Heroes rise again!  
Obliterating everything that's not your friend!  
Nothing can stop you now,  
No ghost to bring you down!  
there's nothing left to lose,  
You win!_

_(Bow your heads LOW!  
All Hail Shadow)_

_ALL HAIL SHADOW!~_

END OF CHAPTER 2

**Preview for next chapter:**

"I finally found him...the Iblis Trigger!"

"To kill someone to save the world..."

"Blue Hedgehog..."

"You're my friend, right?"

"Is it really the right thing to do?"

"I am Mephiles..."

"Why are you getting in my way?"

"Good bye, Silver..."

"Chaos Control!"

CHAPTER 3: SILVER


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